Allegiant Book Review
by KeepMovingForward
Summary: After reading this book I needed to get my thoughts and feelings down. This is my review and opinion of Veronica Roth's conclusion to the Divergent Trilogy. Please be warned that there are major spoilers in this review and do not read if you don't want the story to be ruined for you. I'm open to all opinions and ideas so come share your thoughts! *****Spoilers Inside*******


**Author's Note: This is based on my own opinion of Allegiant. Feel free to agree or disagree with me, I would like to hear everyone's opinions.**

In all honesty after finishing Allegiant I was greatly disappointed. When I first read Divergent and Insurgent I felt like Veronica Roth's writing that put her on par with some of my favorite authors to date like J.K. Rowling, Rick Riordan, Susan Collins, Jennifer Armentrout, Kimberly Derting, and yes, even Jeff Kinney, was lost. I also felt like Veronica Roth seemed to lose her story by the end of Allegiant to where it was almost a different series. I don't know, maybe that was just me.

I think what I found the hardest to understand about the book was the role that Tris' divergence ended up not playing. After two books of being repeatedly told how dangerous and important that trait was to her character in this book it was handled carelessly and I felt as if it was written off too quickly so it would be out of the way. Also, the entire reasoning behind the factions and the "pure" genes felt very rushed and uncontrolled as if Roth was figuring the whole back story as she went along. I understand that Roth was trying to bring the element of prejudice into her story but I just really don't feel like the characters really put their heart into what they believed either way and when confronted with the question they were passive with their answers. I honestly think one of the best elements in Harry Potter was when the characters were faced with prejudice they truly believed one way or another though some character's opinions were swayed, yes.

I also felt like Allegiant had a few huge plot holes. It was like once the characters got outside the fence they didn't really give a damn about what was going on inside the fence, and I felt like after two entire books of fighting for something better they wouldn't just abandon their past like that. I guess I was wrong.

I also felt like there were quite a few scenes or moments in this book that really did nothing other than take up room on the page. For example, when Tobias and Nita go to the fringe. There was absolutely no reason for that scene and when your character even admits that you should just leave that part out. Seriously. And the fact that Nita just wanted them to "meet you" was the worst excuse I've ever read to be honest. This scene, and Nita's character seemed careless and pointless in my opinion.

One thing I noticed after reading the book and reading some reviews online was that there were several "allusions" almost to the Hunger Games. At moments it almost felt like you were in District 12, not the Bureau. One moment that really felt like the Hunger Games to me was when Tris and David are discussing how at one point David loved Tris' mother. Well, honestly it wasn't really a discussion. In the Hunger Games the fact that Peeta's father had had a thing for Katniss' mother felt important and built on the foundation of the story. In Allegiant it just seemed like another pointless bit of information crammed into the story for a dramatic effect that it didn't grab hold of.

I also felt an allusion to the Hunger Games when it seemed like no matter who the leader of the government was they were dealing with, they were always the bad guys. In the Hunger Games it was Snow, then Coin. In Allegiant it was, well in the end I felt like everyone in Allegiant was the bad guy which I didn't like. I understand that the world is not black and white and that it is all just "shades of gray" which seems to have become a very popular concept in recent novels but I honestly felt lost and confused as to who Tris and Tobias were fighting. Was it Evelyn, David, the US government itself? Which is funny because they really didn't _fight _anyone. The were a couple of explosions and shooting of guns but it didn't really result in anything. Yes, they reset the minds of all the people in compound but I was left wondering what happened with all the people _outside _the compound. If they really think that by doing that then all their problems are over and the world is perfect than they obviously have forgotten that one of the most persistent and common human traits is stubbornness.

This all leads up to the big scene, the final revelation and what feels like the biggest WHAT THE HELL moment since "Luke, I am your father." in publishing history. I have never been more disappointed in an ending, ever. I know it takes a lot of gut to kill of your protagonist and I wouldn't disagree with it if the author went about it in the right way. But Veronica Roth did not do this. To me Tris' death felt random and unnecessary. There was no real buildup, no real stand-off before the end. Just her and David and if we're being honest here, David probably never held a gun in his life so the chances of him really killing Tris are like, slim to none. I understand that Veronica Roth was trying to show how Tris was selfless and because of this she was willing to sacrifice herself for her loved ones. But a quote I read somewhere, and I don't remember the entire thing, said something like "Giving your life for your cause is honorable, but it's the one's who suffer through until the end who make the real sacrifices." I can't remember where I read this but if anyone knows it and could help me that would be awesome. I just really feel like this quote is true for a lot of novels. That when the characters come out in the end bearing the scars that they've made greater sacrifices than if they'd just laid down their lives. Maybe that's just me.

Also in the end when Roth talks about Tris just being another nameless rebel that greatly upset me because, in the end, it was true. Her great big sacrifice didn't seem as important when you took a step back and in the whole scheme of things it turned out our protagonist, our hero, ended up playing one of the smallest roles. And that, in the end, was more disappointing that her death, than the plot holes, than the characters, than anything else in the entire novel.

In the end I truly missed the Veronica Roth I saw in the first two novels. And while I did not like Allegiant that doesn't mean that I like Divergent or Insurgent any less than I did before I picked up this book. It just means that I am unsatisfied and also saddened by the ending to what I thought was going to be an epic trilogy, because I thought at one point Stephanie Myer might've been writing this book and though I respect her and know she has many fans I do not care for her writing. But maybe Stephanie might have given us a more satisfying ending, who knows?

The readers certainly don't.


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